Protocol Buffers - Google's data interchange format
Copyright 2008 Google Inc.
This directory contains the Java Protocol Buffers runtime library.
Installation - With Maven
=========================
The Protocol Buffers build is managed using Maven. If you would
rather build without Maven, see below.
1) Install Apache Maven if you don't have it:
http://maven.apache.org/
2) Build the C++ code, or obtain a binary distribution of protoc. If
you install a binary distribution, make sure that it is the same
version as this package. If in doubt, run:
$ protoc --version
You will need to place the protoc executable in ../src. (If you
built it yourself, it should already be there.)
3) Run the tests:
$ mvn test
If some tests fail, this library may not work correctly on your
system. Continue at your own risk.
4) Install the library into your Maven repository:
$ mvn install
5) If you do not use Maven to manage your own build, you can build a
.jar file to use:
$ mvn package
The .jar will be placed in the "target" directory.
Installation - 'Lite' Version - With Maven
==========================================
Building the 'lite' version of the Java Protocol Buffers library is
the same as building the full version, except that all commands are
run using the 'lite' profile. (see
http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-profiles.html)
E.g. to install the lite version of the jar, you would run:
$ mvn install -P lite
The resulting artifact has the 'lite' classifier. To reference it
for dependency resolution, you would specify it as:
<dependency>
<groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
<artifactId>protobuf-java</artifactId>
<version>${version}</version>
<classifier>lite</classifier>
</dependency>
Installation - Without Maven
============================
If you would rather not install Maven to build the library, you may
follow these instructions instead. Note that these instructions skip
running unit tests.
1) Build the C++ code, or obtain a binary distribution of protoc. If
you install a binary distribution, make sure that it is the same
version as this package. If in doubt, run:
$ protoc --version
If you built the C++ code without installing, the compiler binary
should be located in ../src.
2) Invoke protoc to build DescriptorProtos.java:
$ protoc --java_out=src/main/java -I../src \
../src/google/protobuf/descriptor.proto
3) Compile the code in src/main/java using whatever means you prefer.
4) Install the classes wherever you prefer.
Usage
=====
The complete documentation for Protocol Buffers is available via the
web at:
http://code.google.com/apis/protocolbuffers/
